Tuesday, June 18, 2013

I had noticed that her bottom front teeth were sitting out instead of up, but didn't think much of it. But as I was brushing her teeth tonight before bed, one popped out.

The tooth next to it is also very loose and will likely come out tomorrow.

Anna is oblivious to the fact that this is a milestone event - so we are celebrating for her! We put her tooth in our little "tooth box" (so the tooth fairy can easily find the tooth), and put it on her dresser.

She just keeps asking for a tissue, which she puts in her mouth, and sticking her tongue in the tooth hole :) She also said, "tooth go bye-bye". =)

I can't believe she is old enough to be losing teeth already! Stop growing up, NOW!!!

Monday, June 17, 2013

Spring is coming to an end around here. School is almost out, Anna has graduated, and spring sports are wrapping up.

Charlie and Paige both had great seasons in their respective sports. This was Charlie's 3rd year playing baseball, and the first year of "kid-pitch". It was a pretty big difference from coach pitch -- but was a lot of fun! We saw Charlie's batting improve all year, and his fielding skills were pretty impressive. =)
I think the highlight of his season was his grand slam! =)

This was Paige's first year of playing softball. Her league is 1st - 4th grade. Coach pitches to 1st and 2nd graders and kids pitch to 3rd and 4th graders. Paige was awesome! After a hitting intervention early in the season, she became a pretty reliable hit at each at bat. Her throwing improved tremendously, as did her fielding. The young girls don't get much infield time in her league, so Paige decided she wanted to play catcher. She did great - and even managed to catch a couple of foul tips for outs!

Thursday, June 6, 2013

We had Anna's IEP meeting last week. After receiving her evaluation reports, I was really dreading the meeting and what possible surprises might be coming our way. The current thinking was that Anna will be going to Kindergarten in the fall, but I was beginning to doubt that decision.

But, the meeting went great, and I left feeling confident that we are doing the right thing for Anna.

All the players were at the meeting, including Jonathan and me. We began the meeting by going over the evaluation reports and all in the room were in agreement that the scores Anna received were not indicative who she really is, what she really knows, and what she really is capable of doing. The nature of the tests and how they have to be administered (timed portions, not able to repeat, etc.) really affected Anna's scores because Anna is not always the most cooperative little girl (LOL).

What the tests did do, however, was give us an idea of Anna's areas of strengths and weaknesses. One area of strength that really stood out was Anna's problem solving abilities. In other words, Anna is a "Master Manipulator" and knows how to get what she wants. Well, I didn't need a fancy test or a special degree to tell me that -- but I am glad that my motherly instincts were confirmed by such. =)

So, after much discussion about Anna's true abilities (vs. her IQ score), we agreed that Kindergarten is the next logical step for her.

The current plan for Anna is that she will start Kindergarten full time (we have full day Kindergarten) in the fall. She will probably spend most of her time at the beginning of the year in the Special Ed classroom, while trying to be incorporated into the regular Kindergarten classroom as much as possible. She will be pulled out for her therapies (OT, PT, Speech) and she will have a full time personal aide.

No matter what - it should be interesting! But, we all feel we have to try to keep pushing her along lest she gets too comfortable. =) We feel she is capable if she will just cooperate.

So, now the real question is --- What am I going to to do with all my "free" time starting next September??!? Perhaps I will finally get some of my projects completed. =)

Pages

Anna Banana Pants

Anna Banana Pants is our third child who has a little something extra...an extra 21st chromosome. Having a child with Down syndrome is not the life sentence that many believe it to be. In fact, it is the probably the greatest blessing we have received as a family. This blog is about Anna, and our everyday family life.